Julie Alcaraz

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse

French pianist Julie Alcaraz is also an active singer and cellist. Spanish music – rooted in her family’s origins – holds a special place in her heart.
Currently enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire under Denis Pascal, Julie’s playing is further guided by encounters with leading French pianists such as Jacques Rouvier, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, François René Duchable and Jean-François Heisser, to name but a few.
As “French Music Ambassador to Japan“ for gala concerts in 2008, Julie also gave a recital tour in Portugal. She's a regular in Parisian festivals and major venues – from the Chopin Festival to the Cité de la Musique.
As an eager chamber musician, she has twice won prizes from the Ravel Academy. A laureate of the Cziffra Foundation, Julie is preparing her first CD, devoted to works by Spanish composers.
This winter and spring will see her performing in Valencia, at the Pianissimes Festival in Lyon, and at the Fontainebleau Château.

Program

Piotr Alexewicz

16-year-old Polish pianist Pjotr Alexewicz began his musical training with Malgorzata Borkowska, under whose guidance he graduated from musical elementary school in Wroclaw in 2013. He is currently a student of Pawel Zawadzki at the Szymanowski High School.
The young artist can already boast of an impressive number of accolades in national and international competitions, including 1st Prize at this year’s 5th International Piano Competition in Augustow, Poland, as well as 2nd Prize at the 23rd International Lipatti Competition in Bucharest.
As a finalist in the prestigious competition of Aarhus, Denmark, Pjotr represented his country while competing against young pianists from the best conservatories and universities of Sydney (Conservatory), Toronto (Glen-Gould-School), London (Royal Academy), Salzburg (Mozarteum) and Moscow (Tchaikovsky-Conservatory).
Pjotr is a recipient of a scholarship of the city of Wroclaw.

Program

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Toccata op. 7 C-Dur

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Gaspard de la nuit

Scarbo

Álvaro Baltanás Meliveo

Álvaro Baltanás Meliveo started his piano studies at the age of 8 at the Eduardo Ocón School of Music in Málaga. He completed his intermediate studies with distinction at the Gonzalo Martín Tenllado School of Music.
From 2008 to 2011 he was the main pianist in the Andalusian Young Orchestra. He also performed as a soloist with the Malaga Symphonic Orchestra, and the Orquesta de Cámara del Conservatorio Superior de Badajoz.
Alvaro won awards at several international competitions, such as “Esteban Sánchez” (2012) and “Pedro Bote” (2013) in Spain. He has given recitals in several countries, including Spain, Germany and Poland.
In 2014 he was admitted to the “Peabody Conservatory” of John Hopkins University in Balitmore (USA) for a Master in Performance with Professor Ellen Mack.
Currently Alvaro is still enrolled for a Master in Piano Performance under Christian A. Pohl at the HMT Leipzig.

Sven Bauer

Pianist Sven Bauer was born in Schwäbisch Hall in 1989 and started his piano lessons at the age of seven. From the age of nine Sven started competing in music competitions. He won the first prize at Concours International de Piano in Montrond les Bains, Alexandre Scriabine Concours International de Piano in Paris, Concorso Pianistico Internazionale "Città di San Donà di Piave" and at the London Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition.
The young pianist has been inspired through masterclasses with renowned musical figures such as Lev Natochenny, Igor Lazko, Andrzej Jasinski, Oxana Yablonskaya, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Robert Levin und Dmitri Bashkirov.
Sven has been studying since 2005 at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt/Main, where he recentlly his master’s degree Konzertexamen under Lev Natochenny.

Elzbieta Bilicka

Elżbieta Bilicka was born in 1992. She graduated from the Paderewski Music School in Slupsk in 2011, after which she began her studies at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz with Alberto Nose. Since 2012 she has been a pupil of Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron.
Elżbieta has won prizes at numerous cometitions, including The 18th International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland (3rd Prize), The 16th International Chopin Youth Piano Competition in Szafarnia, Poland (2nd Prize), and The 6th International Piano Competition “Chopin in memoriam” in Varna, Bulgaria (4th Prize).
Elżbieta gave her first public performance with a piano concerto at the age of 10, accompanied by the Sinfonia Baltica Polish Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2014 she has been a member of the Bromberg Viola Duo with Karalina Orsik- Sauter. In September Elżbieta will take up her postgraduate studies at the Haute école de musique de Genève with Nelson Goerner.

Robert Bily

Robert Bily was born in 1997 in the Czech Republic and started playing piano at age 6. He lives in Halle (Saale) where he received musical instruction from Margarita Gebhardt and Dirk Fischbeck.
Robert is currently a bachelor student of the HMT Leipzig, under Jacques Ammon.
Despite being only 19 years old, Robert has won over 70 national and international prizes. In the German Youth Competition “Jugend musiziert” alone, he won 22 first and special prizes; he won 9 prizes at the International Piano Podium Munich, was overall winner of the famous Ettlingen Competition for Young Pianists and won first and all special prizes of cometitions in Milan and Lovere in 2015.
After winning the Grand Prix at the international competition “Rising stars“, Robert debuted in 2016 in the Berliner Philharmonie.
He has been awarded scholarships from several organizations, including “ad infinitum Stiftung”, the “Stiftung Elfrun Gabriel”, as well as the Deutschlandstipendium.

Can Çakmur

Can Çakmur was born in 1997 in Ankara.
He won the first prize at 12th Rome International Piano Competition. Apart from giving recitals at numerous embassies, Can has also been invited to festivals such as Antalya International Piano Festival and the D-Marin International Classical Music Festival in Bodrum.
In November 2014 he won third prize at the 4th Franz Liszt International Piano Competition for Young Pianists. He was also awarded "Young Musician of the Year" at the 5th Donizetti Classical Music Awards in Turkey. In 2015, he performed the opening concert of 43. Istanbul Music Festival with Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2015 he has been invited to perform in halls such as Eindhoven Muziekgebouw, CRR Hall in Istanbul and Liszt-Salon Altenburg. Can has received artistic guidance from Marcella Crudeli, Diane Andersen and Emre Sen. Now he pursues his Bachelor studies at Franz Liszt Academy of Music Weimar with Grigory Gruzman.

Kateryna Diadiura

Kateryna was born in 1988 in Kiev. Raised in a family of musicians, she started playing piano at the age of 5. She made her debut with the Symphony orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine at the age of 14, performing Grieg’s piano concerto. She graduated from the M. Lysenko school under N.Gridnjeva at age 18. From 2005-2011 she studied at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv as well as the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, and from 2012-2014 she continued her artistic development at the Haute école de Musique de Lausanne.
Kateryna is currently pursuing a Master’s in Performance at the Mozarteum, with Professor Jacques Rouvier.
Kateryna won first prizes in national and international competitions in Ukraine. She has performed with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, orchestras of Poland, Belorussia and Russian philharmonic societies.
She has given numerous recitals in Ukraine, Poland, France, Italy, Switzerland and Russia.

Antonino Fiumara

Antonino Fiumara was born in 1993 and completed his Masters in Musical Performance with ‘cum laude’ at the “L. Cherubini” Conservatory of Florence, under Maria Teresa Carunchio.
He is the winner of both the prestigious “Premio Abbado 2015” for the best students of all the Italian conservatories, and Third Prize at the “Premio Venezia 2012” . Other awards include first prizes in: “Giulio Rospigliosi”, “Premio Giovannini” of Reggio Emilia,; ”F. Chopin” of Rome, “Pietro Argento Competition” of Gioia del Colle (Ba), “IBLA Grand Prize", “ City of Albenga”.
Antonio is now enrolled in a postgraduate degree at the University of Music and Art of Vienna, in the class of Lilya Zilberstein. He has also been selected for the final rounds of the 24th edition of the prestigious “Rina Sala Gallo” International Piano Competition that will be held in October.

Jean-Paul Gasparian

The 21-year-old pianist, Jean-Paul Gasparian, was raised in a musical family and began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris with renowned teachers such as Jacques Rouvier and Michel Béroff.
He studied for 6 years at the Gnessin Insitute in Moscow, where he graduated with flying colours in 2015. Since then he is under the musical guidance of Elisso Wirssaladse.
In 2014 Jean-Paul shared first prize, together with Stanislaw Khegai, at the European Piano Competition in Bremen, making him the youngest winner in the competition’s history.
He won further prizes in Spain, France, England and Israel. His interests are not solely in music: in 2013 Jean-Paul entered and won the French philosophical competition, Concours Général des Lycéens de France. The highly acclaimed young pianist has already given numerous solo recitals and performances with orchestras across Europe. This is his 3rd time taking part in the IMAL.

Artur Haftman

Pianist Artur Haftman was born in Poland and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London, with Professor Dmitri Alexeev. Simultaneously, Artur is enrolled at La Schola Cantorum in Paris, under Maurizio Moretti.
Artur is the winner of numerous international competitions, including: “Musicaclassica” in Moscow (2012), 16th International Piano Festival in Druskininkai in Lithuania, International Piano Competition in Palma de Mallorca (2011), 7th International Chopin Competition in Narva – Estonia, “Cesar Franck International Piano Competition” in Brussels (2014), and the 10th International Piano Competition “Arthur Rubinstein im memoriam” in Bydgoszcz.
He made his concerto debut at the age of eight and with sixteen he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 during the Chopin Festival of Szczecin.
Artur has presented solo recitals across the UK, Poland, France, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia, including a recital in the Steinway Hall.

Hee Jun Han

Hee Jun Han was born in Seoul and started playing piano at the age of 4. She has won numerous international prizes, including 1st Prize at the Marbella International piano competition in Spain. In 2016, she was Special Prize winner and Medalist at the Hilton Head International Piano competition USA, and a finalist at the Bösendorfer International Piano competition.
Hee Jun has given recitals in prestigious venues, including the Concert hall of Seoul Art Center. She has also performed as soloist with many orchestras, such as PRIME Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nanpa Music Festival as well as the Yewon Orchestra.
Hee Jun holds a Bachelor degree from Seoul National University, where she studied with Professors Ick Choo Moon and Soo Jung Shin, and is currently pursuing a Master’s Soloist Degree with Professor Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum Salzburg.
In 2016 she has solo recitals scheduled in Spain, Germany, Italy and Austria.

Magdalena Haubs

Born in 1993, Magdalena Haubs gave her orchestra debut at the „Prinzregententheater" in Munich and appeared in the Herkules and Philharmonic Halls in Munich and Essen, as well as the Brahms Hall of the “Wiener Musikverein”. She regularly gives piano recitals and performs as soloist with orchestras in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Portugal and the USA. During her bachelor’s degree, Magdalena switched to the piano class of Professor Gerald Fauth (2012) at the HMT Leipzig, after her previous teacher, Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, sadly passed away. In addition to her studies in Germany, she was a student at the “Academia Internacional de Música Aquiles Delle Vigne” in Coimbra (Portugal) from 2012 until 2016. Her teacher there was Professor Aquiles Delle-Vigne.
In 2015 Magdalena began her master’s degree under Professor Margarita Höhenrieder at the HMT Munich.
At the German competition "Jugend Musiziert" she won a total of twelve first prizes, at regional, provinical and national level.

Kyoko Hirota

Kyoko Hirota started the piano in Japan at age six, with Noriko Takeuchi. In 2006 she was chosen by Sony Music Foundation to play in a masterclass with Ivo Pogorelich. Kyoko gave her first recital in Tokyo at age 15. That same year she moved to the US to study with Professor German Diez. She has participated with the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City since 2008.
In 2010 Kyoko won the first prize at Young Artists Piano Showcase and performed at Carnegie Hall. In 2011 she became one of four finalists at the Leschetizky Association for Gifted Young Pianists Concerto Competition and won first prize in the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition with Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1.
In 2014 she won second prize in the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition and the following year first prize in the Mannes Concerto Competition.
Kyoko recently obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Mannes College of Music.

Viktoria Hirschhuber

19-year-old Austrian pianist Viktoria Hirschhuber received first piano instructions at age 8 and became a student at the Mozarteum Salzburg already at the age of 15. She gained diverse artistic ideas through numerous masterclasses with such renowned pedagogues as Pavel Gililov, Matti Raekallio, Lev Natochenny, Mikhail Voskresensky, Erik Tawaststjerna and – at the IMAL 2012 – Jan Jiracek von Arnim.
Viktoria was awarded numerous first and special prices at various competitions, for instance she won five times in a row the state competition “prima la musica“ and reached furthermore the 1st price at the Austrian national competition in the solo piano category twice. At the international piano festival “Vienna Young Pianists“ 2014 she was awarded the C.-P.-E.-Bach-price “for the outstanding interpretation of a work by the composer". Moreover, she has received several scholarships from Austria and from the Musikakademie Liechtenstein.
The young pianist has already appeared in concerts in Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Hungary, Liechtenstein and Georgia and has performed piano concertos with various orchestras, for instance played 18-year-old Viktoria with the Georgian State Orchestra of Tbilisi at the Batumi Music Fest at the Black Sea (Georgia).
Viktoria has been invited to play in the Studio of the Bavarian Radio this year.
From the age of 17, Viktoria has been studying under the guidance of Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

David Horton

Mendelssohn Scholarship from New England Conservatory

21-year-old pianist David Horton’s interests and tastes in music transcend what is considered conventional for his instrument. Through numerous public concerts, David has introduced diverse audiences to his eclectic musical tastes, programming brand new compositions alongside neglected masterpieces. David regularly collaborates with dancers, actors, and other musicians. Premiering new works is of particular importance to David, who regularly works with contemporary composers to produce novel works for his instrument. David is also an ambitious composer and music theorist – he is enrolled in the dual degree program for Piano Performance and Music Theory at NEC, where he studies privately with Wha Kyung Byun and Justin Lundberg, respectively. David’s former teachers include Vera Watanabe, Heather Conner, and Hana Janatova. David was the winner of the 2013 NEC Piano Department Concerto Competition, resulting in a performance of Maurice Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand under Hugh Wolff.

Yun Chih Hsu

Mendelssohn Scholarship from The Juilliard School

Yun Chih Hsu was born in 1997 in Taiwan. In 2008 she was accepted to the Juilliard School where she is currently continuing her studies with Professor Matti Raekallio.
In addition to winning numerous youth competitions, including the Yamaha Music Foundation of Taiwan and the KAWAI piano competitions in 2005, Yun Chih was also winner of the youth section at the 12th Taipei International Chopin Piano Competition in 2008.
During these years Yun Chih performed in concerts throughout Taiwan, China, Japan, Italy, Germany, and the US. In 2010, she was invited to give a solo recital at the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, being the youngest solo performer ever at the renowned venue.
In 2012 Yun Chih was the youngest participant selected for the 8th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan. In 2013 she won the Nordmann Piano Scholarship at the Juilliard School. She was also a semi finalist of the 9th International Paderewski Piano Competition.

David Jae-Weon Huh

Praised by critics, South-Korean pianist David Jae-Weon Huh is recognized as one of today’s foremost young pianists.
He began attracting international attention after winning the China Shanghai International Piano Competition. Subsequently, he has been a prizewinner and finalist at the Hamamatsu, Cleveland and Busoni International Piano Competitions, amongst others.
David has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, including a debut in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and has performed as soloist with the Tokyo Symphony, KNUA Symphony, Radio Televisión Española Symphony, Morocco Philharmonic and Shanghai Philharmonic orchestras.
David studied at Korea National University of Arts under Choong Mo Kang between 2003 and 2010. He was subsequently awarded a full scholarship to the Master’s Program in Music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, studying with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. He is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

Kaoruko Igarashi

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Toho Gakuen School of Music

Kaoruko Igarashi has been playing the piano since she was 6. She is currently in the 2nd year at the Toho Gakuen College, one of Japan’s leading educational institutions for music and drama. Her teachers have included professors Noriko Imaizumi, Fujiko Yamada, Genichiro Murakami, and Yukio Yokoyama.
The young artist won 5 prizes from 2003 to 2008 at national competitions, received a scholarship from the Toho Gakuen Girls-Highschool in 2010 and was awarded a silver prize in the 2011 and 2012 Asian High School Chopin Competition.
In 2013 she won the Grand Prix at the 10th Tokushima Piano Competition and continued to win competitions throughout Japan in 2014 and 2015. She is currently a scholarship holder of the Meiji Quality of life Foundation.

Azumi Ito

The Japanese pianist, Azumi Ito, was born in 1991 in Yokohama, Japan. She attended the Musical High School of the Tokyo University of the Arts until 2009 and continued to complete her bachelor at this university in 2013.
She is currently pursuing a soloist’s master’s degree at the Mozarteum. She studies with Jacques Rouvier in Salzburg and Seizo Azuma in Tokyo. She’s attended masterclasses with Arie Vardi, Ewa Poblocka, Frank Wibaut, Hiroko Nakamura, Matti Raekallio, Michel Béroff and Vladimir Tropp.
Azubi has won prizes in several competitions: first prizes at the “Kanagawa” and “Kamakura” music competitions, third prize in the “Japan Classical Music Competition“ and finalist in the International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany. As soloist she has performed with the Kanagawa Philharmonic and Hitachi Philharmonic orchestras, as well as the Yokohama Symphonic Ensemble.

Hyelee Kang

Hyelee Kang, from South Korea, turned 23 in June this year. She started piano at age 5 and took lessons from 2000-2009 at a specialized music school with Kyeongui Jang.
Already as a child Hyelee won several prizes, including 2nd prize at the 2003 National Korean Chopin Competition. In 2009 she was admitted to the Sunwha Art Highschool where she studied with Jiyoon Kim until 2011.
Thereafter, Hyeleee scored the highest points in the audition at the Yonsei University, where she continued to study for 4 years under Youngwook Yoo. This autumn she will commence a master’s degree at the HMT Leipzig with Gerald Fauth.
Between 2011 and 2014 Hyelee continued to win prizes, including 2nd prizes at the 2014 Liszt as well as the International Josung competitions.
Hyelee Kang regularly performs chamber music with her piano ensemble “Y us” and the wind quintet “Petit Vent”.

Program

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Ballade Nr. 4 op. 52 f-moll

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Eroica-Variationen op. 35 Es-Dur

Dasol Kim

Hailing from his triumphant performance with the New York Philharmonic, Dasol Kim is widely lauded by the press for his astounding interpretations and is regarded as one of the most exciting pianists to emerge onto international spotlight.
Dasol frequents with some of the world’s finest orchestras as a soloist, including the Tonhalle Zurich, Berlin Konzerthaus, BR Bavarian Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Seoul Philharmonic, Berlin Chamber, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony and Belgium National orchestras. He performs regularly with such notable conductors including Alan Gilbert, David Zinman, Lawrence Foster, Michael Sanderling, Myung-Whun Chung, Marin Alsop and Li Xincao.
Praised for his splendid interpretations of solo piano works, the 2014/15 season forecasted his debut recording on Deutsche Grammophon, featuring various solo works by Robert Schumann. Future concert engagements include numerous performances across the globe in Europe, North America and Asia. His musical development has been influenced by Gerald Fauth and Arie Vardi.

Youbin Kim

Youbin Kim was born in 1989 in Changwon and began to play the piano at the age of six. She attended the Seoul Arts High School where her teacher was Hyun Ju Kang. In 2008 she was admitted to the Seoul National University of Music, where she studied in the class of Hie Yeon Choi until 2012.
After completing her bachelor’s degree, Youbin transferred to the class of Gerald Fauth at the HMT Leipzig. Since 2014 she has also been training with Leonid Mararius at the Imola Academy in Italy.
She won 1st prize at the Seoul Symphony Orchestra Competition in 2009, and 3rd prize at the Pietro Argento International Competition in 2015. In 2014 Youbin performed with the Leipzig Student Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus. She has given solo recitals in Korea (Kumho Prodigy 2015), in the Schumannhaus in Leipzig, as well as for the Rheinsberg Music Academy. Youbin is a recipient of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Petra Kiss

Petra Kiss was born in Budapest in 1990 and started playing the piano at age 8. In 2002 she won the National György Ferenczy Piano Competition and 2 years later 2nd prize at the Hungarian National Piano Competition.
Petra continued to win several prizes in Hungary which allowed her to perform as soloist with various orchestras. She also won the Scholarship of the Hungarian Republic twice for her excellent studies. She has given solo recitals all over Europe and in 2013 debuted in the National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing (China), which included a concert tour with solo recitals and a concerto with the orchestra of the National Chinese Ballet. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Liszt Academy of Music with the highest honours.
Petra has recently been accepted for a soloist master at the Mozarteum Salzburg, in the class of Jacques Rouvier.

Julia Kociuban

In 2015 Julia Kociuban was the first Polish semifinalist in the history of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. In February 2016 she won third prize at the 12th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg.
The young artist has already performed at the most renowned European venues (the Herkules Hall Munich, Vienna Konzerthaus, Konzerthaus Berlin, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, amongst others), as well as in North America and Asia. She has been invited to play in the most known music festivals of Europe, and as soloist with the Hamburg and Vienna Symphonic orchestras. In March 2015 she released her first CD with works by Schumann, Chopin and Baczewicz.
Julia was born in Krakow and started receiving musical instruction at 5 years of age. She graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and is currently studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Pavel Gililov.

Mai Koshio

Mai Koshio was born in 1991 in Osaka, Japan. At the age of 4 she started receiving lessons from Natsuko Nihonyanagi.
In 2013 she graduated from the State University of Arts in Tokyo in the class of Susumu Aoyagi. She is currently in Jacque Rouvier’s class at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Mai won the gold medal (category E) and the 2nd prize (Superia) in the PTNA Competition, 2nd prize (Junior D) at the “Valsesia Musica“ as well as the “Mauro Paolo Monopoli“ international competitions. She has attended masterclasses with Piotr Paleczny and András Schiff.
Mai has performed as soloist with Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Donau Symphonic Orchestra, amongst others.
One of Mai’s most exceptional accolades was an invitation to perform for Japan’s imperial family.

Program

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Etüden für Klavier op. 18

Joanna Krauze

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Royal Academy of Music

Born in 1995 in Poland, Joanna Krauze started her musical education at the age of 8. In 2014 she graduated with distinction from Elżbieta Karaś-Krasztel’s class at the Zenon Brzewski Secondary School of Music in Warsaw. She is currently a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, in the class of Tessa Nicholson, and from September will be undertaking two semesters as an exchange student at the HMT Leipzig, with Gerald Fauth.
Joanna has performed as soloist and chamber musician in Poland, the UK, Germany and Canada. She has enjoyed success in several international competitions and festivals, including the first prize in the International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in Rzeszów and in 2015 and 2016 was awarded the Doris Ethel Blake Prize and the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Harriet Cohen Bach Prize.
In 2013, Joanna received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland and Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada.

Elisha Kravitz

Elisha Kravitz was born in Jerusalem in 1993. He began his piano studies at the age of 5 with Lena Nemirovsky in the Jerusalem Conservatory, and continued his studies with Yaron Rosenthal in the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Today Elisha is a student of Emanuel Krasovsky at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he has won all the major awards including 1st prize in the Arianna Katz piano competition (2014) and the Volkov excellence scholarship (2015). Other awards include top prizes in the Israeli Radio competition for young artists (2015) and annual scholarships from the America-Israel cultural foundation, which supports promising Israeli artists. Following intensive masterclasses with Emanuel Ax and Murray Perahia, Elisha was selected to appear as soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin (2014). His performances are often broadcasted on national radio.

Program

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Intermezzo op. 118 Nr. 1 a-moll

Intermezzo op. 118 Nr. 2 A-Dur

Ballade op. 118 Nr. 3 g-moll

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Images I: Reflets dans l'eau L 110 Nr. 1

Pavle Krstic

18-year-old Pavle Krstic was born in Serbia and since 2013 has been studying with Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Pavle has already performed in an impressive number of countries: Croatia, Montenegro, Austria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein. His debut with orchestra was at the age of 10, and last year he performed both Chopin concertos with the Ukrainian National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Pavle gave his first piano recital at the age of 12. He has played in numerous renowned festivals, including IMAL 2014, and received masterclasses from Andrea Bonatta, Natalia Troull, Arbo Valdma, Tatjana Zelikman and Dorian Leljak, among others.
Pavle has won prizes in more than 30 national and international competitions and is promoted by the Serbian government as one of their most successful talents.

Lukasz Krupinski

Lukasz Krupinski was born in 1992 in Warsaw and started playing the piano at the age of 5. He is currently studying at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw under Alicja Paleta-Bugaj and Konrad Skolarski.
The young artist has won numerous prizes since 2011, notably: 1st prize at the International Competition of Slavic Music in Minsk, 1st prize and two special awards at the 2nd Chopin Siberian International Piano Competition in Tomsk, 1st prize at the YAMAHA Music Foundation of Europe Competition, 2nd prize at the 46th Polish National F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, 1st prize at the 15th International Piano Competition 2015 of the Chopin-Gesellschaft Hannover, and 1st prize at the ClaviCologne International Piano Competition in Aachen. He also reached the semifinals of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2015.
Lukasz is a scholarship holder of the Krysztian-Zimerman Foundation and is represented by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association.

Klaudia Kudelko

Klaudia Kudełko, 21, began playing the piano at the age of 7. She studies with Alicja Paleta–Bugaj and Konrad Skolarski at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Klaudia has won awards at many competitions, including second prize at the Chopin Piano Competition Halina Czerny Stefanska in Memorian in Cracow (2013), second prize at International Piano Competition for Young Musicans, Barletta, Italy (2012), Laureate of International Chopin Piano Festival in Mazovia (2013), second prize at International Music Competition in Warsaw (2014), and Grand Prix at the Music Talent Competition in New York, USA (2015). She was a participant of many international masterclasses with renowned teachers such as Pavel Gililov, Jacques Rouvier, and Andrzej Jasinski.
Klaudia regularly performs in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and the United States.

Teppei Kuroda

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Toho Gakuen School of Music

Teppei Kuroda was born in 1997 in Tokyo. In 2012 he won first prize in the 66th All Japan National Student Piano Competition. The next year he entered Toho High School of Music, where he later won first prize in the Piano Concerto Competition. In 2015, he was awarded second prize as the youngest participant in the 84th NHK-Mainichi Newspaper National Music Competition. He performed with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and gave many concerts throughout Japan. After graduating from Toho High School with the highest distinction, he entered Toho University as a scholarship student, studying both piano and composition. This summer, he has been invited to participate in a seminar by Bolzano Music Academy in Italy. He has worked with Professors such as Kayo Wakao, Frank Wibaut, and Mikhail Voskresensky. At present he is studying with Professor Mamiko Suda.

Baichao Lan

Mendelssohn Scholarship from New England Conservatory

Baichao Lan was born in Xiamen, China. He began playing the piano at age four, and he won over 20 piano competitions. Currently, he is pursuing a Bachelor Degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston on a full scholarship with Professor Alexander Korsantia. He started his professional music studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with Professor Youzhe Lou and Professor Zhe Tang. At the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he regularly studied with the leading Chinese pianist Fou Ts’ong. Some of his recent accomplishments include the First Place of 2016 Young Musician Piano Competition in New York, the Winner of the 2015 New England Conservatory Honor Competition in Boston, Semi-Finalist of the San José International Piano Competition.
Baichao has since an early age worked and collaborated with great artists such as Alexander Korsantia, Sergie Babayan, Robert McDonald, Fou Ts’ong, Shikun Liu, Maxim Mogilevsky, Matti Raekallio, John Perry, Jerome Rose, Sean Botkin, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Yuan Sheng, and Zhe Tang.

Zuzanna Laszczkowska

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Fryderyk Chopin University of Music

Zuzanna Laszczkowska was born in Warsaw in 1992 and began playing the piano at age 7. She graduated from the Zenon-Brzewski Music School in Warsaw and is currently studying piano at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and psychology at the University of Warsaw. Her piano teachers have included: Marta Antoszewska, Maria Poradowska, Marzena Jasinska, Alicja Paleta-Bugaj, Anna Jastrzebska-Quinn, Ramiro Sanjines, Elżbieta Tarnawska, Karolina Nadolska, Elżbieta Karaś-Krasztel, Jerzy Sterczynski and Konrad Skolarski. She has studied chamber music with Krystyna Makowska-Lawrynowicz, Krystyna Borucinska, Joanna Maklakiewicz, Bartosz Bednarczyk and Robert Morawski. She has had masterclasses with Kevin Kenner, Andrzej Jasinski, Jerzy Romaniuk, Piotr Paleczny, Edward Auer, David Dolan, Janusz Olejniczak, Waldemar Wojtal, Dina Yoffe and Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron.
The young pianist has several prizes to her name, including 1st prize in the international Bach Competition in Gorzow Wielkopolski and 3rd prize at the 15th International Juliusz-Zarebski Competition.

Program

Ingmar Lazar

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

Born in 1993 in Saint-Cloud (France), Ingmar Lazar gave his first performance at the age of six in Paris. At ten he won the International EPTA Competition in Namur (Belgium), in 2008 the C.I.M. International Competition in Val d'Isère (France), and in 2013 was the recipient of the Tabor Foundation Piano Award at the Verbier Festival (Switzerland).
Ingmar has given concerts in 11 countries in Europe, in halls such as the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Salle Cortot and the Grand UNESCO Hall in Paris. He has played in numerous prestigious festivals and as soloist with many orchestras, including the Russian National Philharmonic.
Ingmar has recorded several CDs for Suoni e Colori, as soloist and in duo with the violinist Alexandre Brussilovsky. His teachers have included Valery Sigalevitch, Vladimir Krainev, Zvi Meniker and Bernd Goetzke, and since 2014 he has been enrolled in a master programme at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Pavel Gililov.

Program

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Fantasie op. 15 C-Dur

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

17 Variations sérieuses op. 54 d-moll

Hyesu Lee

Hyesu Lee was born in 1991 in Seoul and received her first piano instruction from Jisoo Yoo at the Seoul Arts Center Music Academy. She then attended the Yewon School and the Seoul Arts High School. She continued her studies at the HMT “Carl Maria von Weber” in Dresden under Ute Pruggmayer-Philipp, where she graduated in 2015 with the highest distinction. She has since been a student of Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum.
Hyesu has won many awards, amongst others at the Chopin competitions in Japan and Korea, and 2nd prize at the International Piano Competition in Rome 2013. She has performed in the Seoul Arts Center, Ewon Cultural Center and the Dresdner Semperoper, and is recipient of the Richard Wagner and Carl-Maria-von-Weber scholarships. She has attended masterclasses with Andrej Jasinski, Günter Philipp and Lilya Zilberstein.

Program

Sunmi Lee

Sunmi Lee was born in Seoul and started playing the piano at the age of 4. She attended the Kaywon High School of Arts and preparatory school of the Korea National University of Arts (KNUA), where she obtained a Bachelor Degree in 2008 under Dae Jin Kim.
Sunmi continued her studies with Gerald Fauth and Christian A. Pohl at the HMT Leipzig, where she graduated with a Master of Music Performance. She is now pursuing a Meisterklassenexamen in chamber music with Gudrun Franke, while at the same time undertaking another postgraduate degree at the Mozarteum with Jacques Rouvier.
Sunmi has won prizes at many national competitions, including 1st prize at the Nanpa Music Competition, 3rd prize at Hankookilbo (Korea Times) and Suri competitions and 4th Prize at the Samick Piano Competition. She has had massterclasses with Jeanne Kierman Fischer, Choong Mo Kang and Robert Levin.
Sunmi is a recipient of the Deutschland scholarship.

Program

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Humoreske op. 20 B-Dur

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

24 Préludes op. 28

Juho Lepistö

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Sibelius Academy Helsinki

Juho Lepistö (born 1995) studied at the Liminka Region Music Institute from 2004 to 2014, with Eeva Havulehto and Hannu Hirvelä, amongst others. In autumn 2014 he entered the Sibelius Academy to study with Tuija Hakkila and Ilmo Ranta. He was a prize winner in the Leevi Madetoja Piano Competition in 2009
and 2012 and at last year’s Helmi Vesa Piano Competition - Sibelius Academy’s internal piano competition – where he was awarded the Sibelius special prize and the challenge trophy. He appeared as soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2015.
Juho has also attended masterclasses with Liisa Pohjola, Robert Levin, Olli Mustonen, Paavali Jumppanen, Alberto Nosè and Theodor Paraschivesco.

Churen Li

Highly acclaimed Yamaha-Bösendorfer artist Churen Li was born in Singapore in 1995 and admitted to the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory at the age of 16, where she studied piano with Albert Tiu.
She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Peter Frankl.
Churen first drew attention upon herself in 2011 when she won 3rd prize at the International Piano Competition in Aarhus. She has since won many international prizes, especially in Italy.
In 2014 Churen was featured as a President’s Young Performer in her home country, Singapore. She is also the recipient of prestigious grants including the Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship (2015), FJ Benjamin-Singapore Symphony Orchestra Bursary (2013) and the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (2011-2015).

Adela Liculescu

The young Romanian pianist Adela Liculescu, who was born in Craiova in 1993, has already performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. In 2014 she made her debut in the Berliner Philharmonie with Mozart’s C-Major concerto KV 467, in Bucharest’s Athanaeum with Beethoven’s 2nd, and has played a further 9 concertos with renowned conductors.
She was the highest ranked Romanian pianist at the 2014 International Enescu Competition, won the 5th prize at the Beethoven Competition in Vienna the year before, and first prize in the 2012 Rombro-Stepanow and the 2015 Bösendorfer competitions in Vienna as well as the Città di Cantù Competition in Italy.
Adela has performed in Vienna, Munich, Bonn, Venice, Bucharest and Tel Aviv, and had masterclasses with Arie Vardi, Michail Voskresensky, Pjotr Paleczny, Jacques Rouvier and Konstantin Lifschitz.
She graduated in 2012 from the Specialized School of Music in Craiova and has since been a student of Martin Hughes at the Vienna University of Music and Art.

Kie Wouk Lim

Kie Wouk Lim was born in Seoul in 1989. After receiving piano tuition from 2006 to 2009 at the Deokwon-Arts-High-School, he completed a bachelor’s degree at the Yonsei University under Hyunjung Kim.
In recent years Kie has won first prizes in several competitions, such as the Korea Piano Society Competition, the Youngchang Music Competition and the Korean Brahms Competition. In the Seoul Philharmonic Competition he was awarded the first prize as well as the special prize.
In 2014 he received the "Kumho-Young-Artist" accolade and performed as soloist with several university orchestras. In 2015 he received a full scholarship for the Aspen Festival, as well as the Deutschland Stipend and a DAAD scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service). In October 2014 Kie enrolled for a master’s degree with Christian A. Pohl at the HMT Leipzig, where he recently graduated with distinction.

Program

Rafael Lipstein

Rafael Lipstein was born in 1995 and at the age of four started playing first the violin, before taking up the piano when he was eleven. He was first taught by his father, and from 2010 by Prof. Pavel Gililov at the Musikhochschule Köln.
In 2015 he won the 1st prize in the International “Flame” Piano Competition Paris and the “Public Prize” in the Concours de piano de Gagny. Other prizes include the audience prize at the Young Professionals Competition Germany, and 1st prizes at the 17th Tjarri Competition in Cyprus, the Schimmel Piano Competition Germany, the Munich Piano Competition, the Van Bremen Competition Dortmund, the Bitburger Competition and the Oldenburg Music Competition.
Concert engagements have taken him to Berlin, Paris, Vienna, China, Salzburg, Bayreuth, and stages such as the Gasteig in Munich, the Cologne Philharmonie and the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. Rafael often performs in duo with his brother Manuel (Cello) and Jungyoon Yang (Violin).

Iulia Maria Marin

Romanian pianist Iulia Maria Marin has appeared as a soloist in New York, Italy, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria and Romania.
Her concerto debut was in 2007 in the Bucharest Athenaeum. She has since played with numerous orchestras, such as Sinfonia Bucuresti, the National Youth Orchestra of Romania, Vidin State Philharmonic and Shumen State Philharmonic orchestras.
Iulia has won numerous prizes, including 1st prize at the Mozart International Interpretation Competition Romania, 2nd prize in the “Sofia Cosma” International and the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition New York, and silver and bronze medals at the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati USA.
She has had masterclasses with Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Arie Vardi, Boris Petrushansky, Vladimir Tropp, Hiroko Nakamura and Bernd Goetzke.
Iulia completed her bachelor at the Manhattan School of Music under Phillip Kawin and is currently a master student of Roland Krüger in Hannover, and a student of Andrea Bonatta at Music School Brescia.

Ilya Maximov

Ilya Maximov recently won 1st prize at the Viotti competition in Italy, crowning his list of prizes in more than 15 international competitions, which started in 2008 with the 1st prize in the Chopin Competition Rome and 2nd prize in the Maria Canals Competition Spain.
Ilya was born in Yekaterinburg (Russia) and began receiving piano tuition at the age of 6. Already 2 years later he debuted with the orchestra of his city. He was later accepted at the Gnessin Institute Moscow (with Vladimir Tropp and Alexander Kobrin) as well as the Barcelona Conservatory (with Stanislav Pochekin).
In 2014 Ilya obtained his Master’s from the Royal College of London, under Dmitry Alexeev, and is currently undertaking postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum with Pavel Gililov. He is recipient of 2 prestigious scholarships (Queen Elizabeth, David Young Scholar) and has given concerts throughout Europe, Asia and the US.

Keigo Mukawa

Keigo Mukawa was born in 1993 in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi and was accepted to the Yamaha Music School at the age of 3. He later studied at the Tokyo Fine Arts University and the CNSMD in Paris. His teachers were Frank Bradley, Haruko Ueda, Théodore Paraskivesco, Susumu Aoyagi and Yukio Yokoyama.
Keigo has received masterclasses from Pascal Roche, Henri Barda, Anne Queffélec, Yves Henry, Vera Gornostayeva, Michail Voskresensky, Eilsso Virssaladze and Ewa Poplocka. Keigo has been awarded numerous prizes, most notably: 1st prizes in Japan’s most prestigious national competition in 2012 and in the 2013 Chamber Music Competition in Akiyoshidai, and 2nd prize at the 25th Concours International de Piano d’Epinal in France.
Keigo has played concertos with important orchestras in Japan and has performed trios with the concert masters of the NHK Orchestra. He is also a scholarship recipient of the Rome Music Foundation.

José A. Navarro Silberstein

José Andrés Navarro Silberstein was born in 1995 in La Paz (Bolivia). His first musical instruction was at the age of 4 with Giannina La Placa and later with Litta Haus and Irina Efanova. He soon frequented stages in his homeland. After completing school in La Paz he came to study music in Germany, where he entered the class of Balazs Szokolay at the Hochschule für Musik „Franz Liszt“ in Weimar in 2014.
José took masterclasses with Jacob Leuschner, Grigory Gruzman, Friedemann Rieger and Bernd Goetzke, and won prizes at various national and international competitions, most recently first prize at the 2015 Young Academy Award in Rome.
José also performs his own compositions. In 2015 he was chosen to represent the music university of Weimar through a scholarship from the Elfrun Gabriel Association.

Szymon Nehring

Szymon Nehring is one of the most sought after Polish pianists of his generation.
Since his success at the 17th International Chopin Competition – he was the only Pole in the final round, and awarded the Audience Prize – Szymon has received countless concert invitations in his homeland and abroad. Having studied with Olga Lazarska at the Cracow Music School for many years, Szymon is currently in the class of Stefan Wojtas at the Bydgoszcz Music Academy.
In Poland he has won two 1st prizes – at the Poznan International Piano Competition (including 6 special prizes), as well as the Rubenstein Competition. His first CD, with works by Chopin, Szymanowski and Mykietyn, was recently awarded the “Supersonic Pizzicato Award“.
In 2015 Szymon toured the most well-known Polish halls with the Santander Orchestra and Chopin’s 1st piano concerto. He has also performed throughout Europe and Canada and is represented by the Beethoven-Association.

Yu Nitahara

Born in Japan in 1990, Yu Nitahara began his piano studies at the age of six. He graduated from the Tokyo National University of the Arts with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree under Michiko Kasuya-Ohno and Akira Eguchi. He is currently studying at Mozarteum in Salzburg under Pavel Gililov.
Yu was a prizewinner at the 9th PIANALE International Piano Competition (Germany), and a semifinalist at the 66th Viotti International Music Competition (Italy) as well as the 10th Seoul International Music Competition (South Korea). In his native country he received 1st prizes at the 32nd PTNA Piano Competition as well as the 6th Kazuko Yasukawa Memorial Competition.
Yu has performed as soloist and chamber musician widely throughout Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, South Korea and Italy. He has played with the Kyusyu Symphony Orchestra and Geidai Philharmonia. In appreciation of his performances, he was awarded a Yamaha scholarship and the Ohga Norio (SONY) prize.

Program

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Klaviersonate Nr. 20 D 959 A-Dur

Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo. Allegro vivace
Rondo. Allegretto

Wandererfantasie op. 15 C-Dur D 760

Joo Hyeon Park

Joo Hyeon Park holds degrees from Yale University School of Music and is currently pursuing his Konzertexamen at the Musikhochschule Hannover. His piano teachers include Hung-Kuan Chen, Claude Frank and Arie Vardi.
His performances have taken him to renowned concert halls and festivals in Europe and the US, including Teatro Salieri, Salzburger Schlosskonzerte Mirabell, Yale Vista Chambermusic Concert, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Stravinski Auditorium, Yale Sprague Hall, Théâtre National Mohammed V, Salle Gaveau, Théâtre des Champs Élysées and the Kennedy Center.
Joo has appeared as soloist with the Göttinger Symphony, Akademisches Orchester Leipzig, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de chamber de Paris and the Universität Mozarteum Symphony Orchestra.

Danor Quinteros

Born in Santiago de Chile, Danor Quinteros studied with Maria Iris Radrigán before moving to Europe to study with Homero Francesch in Zurich and Jacob Leuschner in Cologne. Recently he obtained his Konzertexamen with the highest distinction under the guidance of Pavel Gililov.
Danor won all national competitions in Chile and was also a prizewinner at several international competitions, such as “Giuliano Pecar” (1st prize), “Claudio Arrau” and “Città di Caraglio” (2nd prize), “Ile de France” and “Santa Cecilia” (3rd prize).
Danor has given concerts throughout his native Chile and Europe, in the Tonhalle Zurich, Liszthaus Weimar, and the Ruhr Piano Festival. He has taken masterclasses with Jacques Rouvier, Jan Kanno, Robert McDonald, Andrea Lucchesini, Andrea Sonata, Matti Raekallio, Andrej Jasinski and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Program

Robbin Reza

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Australian Pianist Robbin Reza (21) is currently in his final bachelor year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where his teacher is Daniel Herscovitch.
Robbin has drawn attention through numerous concert appearances throughout Autralia. He played at an opening event of the International Piano Competition in Sydney, and during the Australian Pavilion at Shanghai EXPO in China in 2010.
In 2011 he won the NSW Secondary Schools Competition in the highest age category and in the following years represented his university in numerous concerts. He is recipient of 4 scholarships (Theme and Variations Foundation, Alliston/Hendersen Scholarship, Irene Hope Gibson Award and Bessie Cook Piano Scholarship).
Robbin has participated in Masterclasses with Stephen Hough, Alexey Sokolov, Lisa Moore and Dan Zhaoyi.

Maximilian Schairer

Maximilian Schairer was born in 1997 and started his music education in Stuttgart with Monika Giurgiuman. He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree at the Munich Hochschule under Wolfram Schmidt-Leonardo. He has taken masterclasses with Gerald Fauth, Robert Levin and John Perry, and further receives artistic inspiration from Ya-Fei Chuang, Christopher Elton, Martin Helmchen and Murray Perahia.
Since 2006 Maximilian has been invited to perform in prestigious concert halls in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, and USA, and at renowned festivals such as Braunschweig Classix Festival, MUSIKFESTUTTGART, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, LUCERNE FESTIVAL, and Salzburger Festspiele. Furthermore he performed for the 60th “diamond jubilee” of Queen Elizabeth II, and gave his orchestra debut with the renowned Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

Tikhon Selivanov

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory

Tikhon Selivanov was born in 1996 in St. Petersburg. At age 6 he entered the Glinka Choral College, where he also studied the violin and the flute. During this time he was able to acquaint himself as soloist and as member of the college choir with the concert stages of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Tikhon was awarded a scholarship from Saint Petersburg in 2012 and the following year was admitted to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, first in choir conducting, and a year later in piano (class of V. Vishnevsky).
On the piano he won first prize at the 4th Tsetvikov International Competition, and as chamber musician was awarded 2nd and 3rd prizes in the 2014 and 2016 Savshinsky competitions in St. Petersburg.

Delfim Silva Carvalho

Born in 1991 in Amarante, Portugal, Delfim Silva Carvalho started playing piano at the age of eleven with Fernando Oliveira. He continued his training at the conservatories of Felgueiras, Vale do Sousa and Oporto, under Cláudia Soares, Luísa Ferreira, Sérgio Coelho and Bárbara Dória.
Delfim is currently enrolled for a master’s degree at the HMT Leipzig, in the class of Christian A. Pohl.
Since 2009 he took several 2nd and 3rd prizes at the International Piano Competition Cidade do Fundão, as well as the Póvoa de Varzim Competition. In 2015 Delfim was selected to be an artistic director of the piano festival named after the composer “António Vitorino d’Almeida”, and this year he will be performing the premiere of d’Almeida’s 2nd piano concerto, dedicated to him.

Gwyyon Sin

Gwyyon Sin was born in 1992 in Seoul and began playing the piano at the age of 6. While still in high school, she gave her first solo concert in the Ewon Art Hall in Seoul, in 2006. In 2011 she came to Austria where she entered the Vienna University of Music and Art in the preparatory class, under the guidance of Christopher Hinterhuber. Shortly after that she was accepted for a bachelor programme at the HMT Leipzig, where she is currently a student of Dietmar Nawroth.
Gwyyon has performed on many stages in Saxony (Westphalsches and Weißes Haus Markkleeberg, Gohliser Schlösschen, Art Kapella Schkeuditz, Grieg-Begegnungsstätte Leipzig, Musikscheune Torgau-Melpitz) and has given a recital in the Schumann-Haus Zwickau. She had masterclasses with Robert Levin, Sontraud Speidel, Géry Moutier and Christopher Oakden. In 2015 she took 1st prizes at international competitions in Ischia (Italy) and Santorini (Greece), as well as 2nd prize in Treviso (Italy).

Da-eun Song

Da-eun Song was born in 1992 in South Korea, graduated from primary and middle school in Pohang, and also attended the Phang Art High School. In 2011 she received the highest mark of all applicants to the Yonsei University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in 2015, in the class of Youngwook Yoo.
That same year Da-eun passed the auditions for a master’s degree at all the leading music universities of Germany and chose to study at the HMT Leipzig, where she has since been a student of Gerald Fauth.
The young pianist has won several national and international competitions (2008 Samick-Bechstein/Berlin, 2012 Esteban Sanchez/Spain and Liszt-Competition/Korea, 2014 Young Chang-Competition/Korea) and performed with South Korean orchestras in Pohang and Daegu.
Da-eun is a member of the “Y-us Piano Ensembles”, is supported through a scholarship from the Elfrun Gabriel association, and gives concerts throughout Saxony and Thuringia (Germany).

Program

Antonina Suhanova

Antonina Suhanova has been winning prizes at national and international competitions since the age of 9. She was born in Latvia in 1991 and studied with Gunta Boza and Juris Kalnciems at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, before moving to London in 2012 to commence her studies at the Guildhall School under Ronan O’Hora. She is now pursuing a postgraduate degree and has been awarded a full scholarship from the Edith Vogel Bursary and Drake Calleja Trust. This year she further received the Musicians UK Postgraduate Award.
Antonina has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Latvia, London and Moscow, under the baton of Andris Nelsons and Vladimir Spivakov, amongst others.
Antonina recently made her debut performance with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, winning her the prestigious Gold Medal of her university. She has performed in renowned festivals and had masterclasses with Dominique Merlet, Idil Biret, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dmitri Bashkirov and Boris Berman.

Anna Suzuki

Anna Suzuki was born in 1997 in Japan and started playing the piano at the age of four. She studied with Kaori Mizuno, Emiko Ueno and Toshiki Usui in Nagoya.
Since her debut with Mozart’s A-Major concerto KV 488 and the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 10, Anna has played many recitals and concertos, including a performance with the Yokohama Sinfonietta in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall in 2013. Other concertos she has performed include those by Grieg and Ravel.
Anna has won prizes in several international competitions: 1st prize at the Japan-Hong Kong International Music Competition 2012, 2nd prize at the 2014 Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, USA, and 3rd prize at the Rosario Marciano International Piano Competition in Vienna in 2015. She was also a finalist in the Steinway Piano Competition in Japan.
Since 2014 she is studying in the Mozarteum University of Salzburg with Jacques Rouvier.

Program

Alexey Sychev

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

Alexey Sychev has an impressive list of prizes to his name: 1st prize in the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition Weimar, the 16th "Dr. Luis Sigall” in Chile, the World Online Competition USA, the Princess Lalla Meryem Competition in Morocco, and the Enno Porino Competition and the Premio Franz Liszt in Italy; 2nd prize at the 57th Jaen International Piano Competition and at San Marino 2009, and 3rd prize in the 30th A. Casagrande and the 64th G.B. Viotti international music competitions.
Alexey received scholarships from the “Russian art of performance” and the “Mstislav-Rostropovich” foundations.
The young artist has already performed in 13 countries, on 5 continents, and was a guest in prestigious festivals across Germany, Chile, Switzerland and the USA.
Alexey studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Alexej Nasedkin and Pavel Nersessian and is currently a student of Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum Salzburg.

Asen Tanchev

Asen Tanchev was born in 1992 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He started receiving piano instruction at the age of 6 and 4 years later won his first piano competition. Since 2009 has been a student of Arie Vardi in Hannover and in September this year will move to the HMT Leipzig to study with Gerald Fauth.
The young pianist has already won more than 15 prizes, including: 1st prize and 3 special prizes at the 2007 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow; 3rd prize at the 2012 Rabat International Piano Competition in Morocco. Asen was the only foreign pianist to receive scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, and in Bulgaria was elected as the “Up-and-coming Musician of the Year”, where he was awarded the country’s most prestigious music prize, the “Crystal Lyre”.
He has had masterclasses with Paul Badura-Skoda, Hans Leygraf, Michail Voskressensky, Piotr Paleczny, Bernd Goetzke, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Pavel Gililov, Boris Berman and Dimitri Bashkirov.

Nikita Tonkonogov

Nikita Tonkonogov was born in Moscow in 1989. He started taking piano lessons when he was four, and already at the age of nine made his debut with orchestra in the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He gave his first solo recital at the age of 11.
Nikita won international competitions in Moscow (Yakov Flier) and in Kiev (21st Century Art), and is a laureate of the “Russian Performing Art” program.
The young pianist studied with Natalia Suslova, and then with Mikhail Voskresensky at the Moscow Conservatory. With a scholarship from the Swiss Government Nikita is currently studying in Bern with Thomas Herbut. He has taken numerous masterclasses, with pianists such as Van Cliburn, and given solo recitals in Russia, Europe and the US. He has also made recordings for the Russian TV channel “Kultura”. Nikita also plays a lot of chamber music and contemporary compositions.

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Partita Nr. 6 BWV 830 e-moll

Toccata
Allemanda
Courante
Sarabande
Tempo di Gavotta
Gigue

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Polonaise Nr. 7 op. 61 As-Dur

Haruka Watanabe

Haruka Watanabe studied piano with Mieko Harimoto and accompaniment with Etsuko Taniike at the Tokyo College of Music.
She won a scholarship from the Tokyo College of Music, allowing her to undertake studies at the Franz-Liszt-Akademy in Budapest, with Dràfi Kàlmàn (solo class) and Barnabàs Kelemen (chamber music). She recently passed the audition for a master’s degree at the HMT Leipzig, where she will further continue to study from September with Gerald Fauth.
Haruka has the following prizes to her name: 2nd prize in the 2007 Sitama-Competition, 1st prize in the 4-hand piano category of the 2012 Yokohama Bay Music Festival, and 4th place in the 22nd Japan Classical Music Competition. She was also semifinalist at the 8th Concours International de Piano Francis Poulenc and in 2015 won 1st prize at the Sakura Competition in Japan.

Program

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Klavierstücke op. 118

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Zwölf symphonische Etüden op. 13

Amadeus Wiesensee

Amadeus Wiesensee (22) was born in Würzburg, Germany. At the age of eight he became a pupil of Thomas Böckheler in Munich, and from 2007 a junior student with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He continued his studies in Munich with Antti Siirala. Numerous masterclasses with teachers such as Elena Richter, John O’Conor, Robert Levin, Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Matti Raekallio and Hélène Grimaud have rounded off his training. He also gained special impetus from Alfred Brendel, Till Fellner and Elisabeth Leonskaja.
Since his concerto debut with the Munich Radio Orchestra at the age of 12, Amadeus has played with the Bavarian Youth Orchestra, the German String Philharmonic, the Heidelberg Symphony, the New Philharmonic of Westphalia, the Bergische Symphoniker of Remscheid and Solingen, the Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic and the BLJO, and has been a guest performer at many renowned festivals across Europe.
Amadeus also holds a bachelor in philosophy from the University of Munich.

Ming Xie

Mendelssohn Scholarship from The Juilliard School

Hailed by New York critics and by Martha Argerich, pianist Ming Xie was born in China and began his musical training at age six. He later enrolled at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music with Hanguo Yang, and in 2001 was accepted at the Juilliard School New York, where he first worked with Matti Raekallio and is now a student of Emanuel Ax and Sergei Babayan.
Ming enjoys playing in some of the best-known festivals and halls around the world, such as the Steinway Hall and Lincoln Center New York and the Beijing Concert Hall. He has won numerous top prizes in international competitions, including Valsesia Musica International Piano Competition in Italy, Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Spain, Lee International Piano Competition USA, TOYAMA International Youth Piano Competition in Hong Kong and Gulangyu National Piano Competition in China.
Ming is also enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology New York and has produced over 300 couture pieces.

Program

Alexander Yau

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Alexander Yau is the 3rd Prize winner at the 2015 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, has performed in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and appeared as soloist with the Kuring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra, SBS Youth Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He has made several recording broadcasts with 2MBS Fm and a CD recording with the ABC classic Fm, collaborating with Clarinetist Deborah de Graaff. This year, he will perform Brahms Piano Concerto no. 2 with the Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra.
Born in Sydney in 1995, Alexander began piano lessons at the age of 6 and studied with Elizabeth Powell 5 years later. He is currently in his 3rd year of his Bachelor of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium with Daniel Herscovitch, holding both the William Kapell Memorial Scholarship and Seetha Aryanganie Nugawela Scholarship Prize for “Outstanding Piano Student”.

Evgeny Zaretskiy

Mendelssohn Scholarship from Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory

Evgeny Zaretskiy was born in 1996 in St. Petersburg. From 2003 to 2014 he attended the State Lyceum of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Zora Zucker, and then continued his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts with Till Fellner. He is now studying again in St. Petersburg, with Leonid Zaichik.
Evgeny’s first concert appearances were in the Chamber Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and in other Russian cities. He has also given concerts in Switzerland, Holland and Australia, and has been invited 3 times to perform at the Bad Kissinger Sommerfestival in Germany.
Evgeny has won numerous awards at international youth competitions (Lemberg 2006, 1st prizes at the Scriabin Competition in Paris 2008 and the Sviridov Competition of St. Petersburg). From 2008 to 2012 Evgeny was a scholarship holder of the Philharmonic Association St. Petersburg and attended masterclasses with Paul Komen, Pascal Devoyon, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Markus Schirmer and Peter Frankl.